Tips to Improve Staff Productivity

Every business, big or small, needs one thing for success: productivity. So if your staff is not reaching their full productivity potential, your business suffers. Sound familiar? Don’t panic. The best thing to do is learn and understand the best tips to improve staff productivity, and we’re sharing those today.

Delegate

Some business owners, especially small business owners, can struggle with delegating essential activities within the business. But you’re doing yourself a disfavor. Not only is that more stressful for you, but you aren’t utilizing your employees to have the business run smoother.

The first step is to sit back and figure out which things can be delegated to a qualifying employee. If they can take on some part of the business’s responsibility, you will see a higher productivity rate.

Utilize Every Employee

Not every employee is created equal. Knowing that can be a game-changer. How? Because you can utilize every employee to their highest potential if you know and understand them. Someone creative and outgoing might be a better salesperson or marketer. Someone who knows technology can work on tech support, website creation, and more.

Knowing your employees can help you to give them the right job for success. Someone who knows and enjoys what they’re doing will be far more productive than someone stuck in a job they don’t like.

Provide Incentives

Everyone likes to be rewarded, whether you’re entry-level or part of the big leagues. Providing your staff with incentives may be precisely what you need to kick them into high gear.

Now, don’t be afraid to get creative with rewards. It doesn’t always have to lead to a raise. In fact, some incentives don’t have to involve money at all. Perhaps the motivation is to leave early on Friday or show up an hour late on Monday. Maybe they can dress casually for work one day. Step out of the box to make it fun.

Also, provide long-term goals. These can be individual or for the entire staff. If your team can reach their destination, you can take them out for a big, fancy lunch. Have you made some really impressive strides? Why not take a weekend trip with the troops.

Give Them Tools to Succeed

You can’t ask your employees to be productive if you do not give them the tools to succeed. These “tools” can mean many different things.

First and foremost, look at the actual equipment in the workplace. Outdated, slow, and hard to understand equipment will only cause more stress and a lack of production. Try and keep equipment up-to-date.

For example, older computers should be swapped for newer models that can get the job done quicker. You should also consider installing new equipment for success too. Businesses are utilizing new technology every day and reaping the benefits – why aren’t you?

When it comes to tools to succeed, another one is training. Don’t ever overlook the value of a trained employee. So, whether you’re hiring someone new or trying to encourage career development, training is necessary.

Communication is Key

Haven’t we all heard this at least 1,000 times in our lifetime? Well, that’s because it truly is the key to success. However, most of us are still bypassing the importance of communication. It is especially true in this day and age, where we can send messages in seconds but don’t care to read the replies.

Well, communication is as essential in a business as it is in your personal life. As the owner, you must talk to your staff regularly – and no, I do not mean by email. Most employees are not big fans of emails, making them feel small in the workplace. Use emails sparingly and promote talking in-person, such as in a meeting.

What’s more important than talking is listening, though. An owner who can’t listen to his staff will not move forward towards greater productivity. Your team is a realm of beautiful ideas and constructive criticism. Don’t be afraid to hear what they say and make changes accordingly.

That said, make your next step simple. Call a meeting to see what would help your staff be more productive. They may have some unique ideas that never even crossed your mind.

Provide a Great Workplace

Horrible working conditions? Forget about productivity. No employee will give it their all when they’re stuck in an establishment with lousy working conditions. So, the obvious thing to do is to provide a more comfortable workplace. This can mean big and little changes, depending on your business.

One easy way to make the area more comfortable is to keep the air around 68 to 70 degrees F. This provides a temperate workplace that is not too hot or cold. Also, ensure that the seating offers ample support. Lighting should allow for good work without squinting. Make sure everyone has enough space to feel comfortable.

Aside from comfort, think about offering your staff something nice to look at. If you look up only to see bare walls from one side to the other, you’re likely not going to feel rejuvenated and ready for work. So what can a business owner do? Add some decoration to the space to make it feel more cozy, welcoming, and relaxing.

Set Realistic Goals and Deadlines

Remember those meetings we discussed earlier? Well, aside from listening to your team during the meeting, set realistic goals and deadlines. And when I say realistic, I mean realistic. Make the goals achievable. Nobody is going to feel revved up to reach a goal if it feels impossible. While you’re at it, don’t forget to encourage goals with incentives, too.

Deadlines are just as important as the goal. When someone knows they have a specific time frame to finish something, they will feel more encouraged to accomplish it. Again, make the deadlines realistic. Something unrealistic is going to cause stress and panic. In turn, you’re left with less productivity and a higher turnaround of employees. Not good!

Start a Wellness Program

One easy way to take your staff to the next level of production is to start a wellness program. Needless to say, a happy and healthy team is going to be far more productive than the latter. Don’t think that you have to go the Google route and supply massages to your employees (although if you can, that would be one significant benefit for the team).

Instead, focus on more reasonable ideas to implement in the workplace. Some of these ideas may include:

• Stress reduction programs. A stressed-out worker is a less productive worker. By implementing a stress reduction program, you can rest assured you have a relaxed employee ready to take on anything.
• Weight loss programs. A lot of people are in the market for losing weight. Programs that encourage weight loss through diets, exercise, and other means, will provide you with a happy and more productive employee.
• Smoking cessation programs. Smoking might seem like a stress-reliever, but any avid smoker will share that they do more harm than good. Encourage your staff to break the habit and get healthy with a smoking cessation program.
• Health screenings. Again, health has a significant impact on production. Make sure all of your employees are healthy and ready to work.
• Nutrition education and offerings. Nutrition plays a major role in health and happiness, which in turn helps production. Educate your staff on healthy, nutritional options. Take it a step further by starting a program that offers the staff lunches and snacks.
• Exercise programs. It’s clear that exercise positively impacts overall production, so start up an exercise program. You can also encourage activity in the workplace by having stability balls instead of chairs, implementing walking meetings, and providing exercise breaks throughout the day.

Reduce Distractions

Let’s face it – we can all agree that distractions put a significant damper on productivity. The same is true for your staff. So, a great way to improve productivity is to get rid of all of the distractions.

A great way to start is by limiting the number of emails sent out. So many workers spend too much time checking their emails and (sometimes) replying to them. The same goes for a senseless meeting. If it is not absolutely necessary, then just stop!

You can also put together a quiet room. These are becoming more common in the workplace. This is a small room where employees can go to get away from it all. Here, they can work in a tranquil environment, meditate, or get some much-needed quiet time.

You can also try to implement other forms of distraction reduction. For example, limit the amount of time allotted for cellphone usage. Suggest using noise-canceling headphones.

Final Thoughts

A productive workplace is critical for success, but lackluster staff can make this impossible. As the business owner, you need to take the proper steps to encourage and improve workplace productivity. Start by delegating and utilizing your employees to their best potential. Pay attention to the workplace and ensure it is a comfortable and up-to-date environment. Don’t forget about incentives, training, and communication, all critical pieces to the puzzle.

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